THE owner of a limousine car company has accused the city council of "entrapment" after he was tricked into to a pub to pick up a pair of enforcement officers.

Idris Jones, who owns Xtreme Limos in Bartley Green, thought he was going to the Old House at Home pub in Harborne to collect a couple and take them to the Alexandra Theatre.

But when he arrived in his limousine he was met by two city council licensing staff and a police officer.

They asked to see if Mr Jones had the necessary private hire vehicle licence for his business, started 15 months ago.

Mr Jones, 34, said: "I wasn't aware that I needed a private hire vehicle licence, but the thing that upsets me is the entrapment. If they wanted to check if I had a licence, they could have visited me."

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: "The council wrote to Mr Jones and advised him they had no record that the company, vehicle or driver were licensed for private hire. Mr Jones did not respond."